The present invention relates generally to a carpenter's level holder and, more particularly, to a carpenter's level holder device which subsequent to the placement of the level in the device, permits the device and level to be placed on a wall partition with automatic self-aligning and self-securing features for facilitating the plumbing of the wall partition by a single user.
In the construction of buildings or homes, there is a stage in the process wherein individual wall frames or partitions are erected and temporarily secured by a beam previously attached to the nearby floor and then secured by a nail to the partition. To accomplish this process, it heretofore has been customary for one person to hold a carpenter's level against a vertical position of the partition, then while holding the partition in the proper or plumb position, an additional person nails another member or beam in place to temporarily secure the partition's proper vertical position. As will be recognized, the prior art's use of two persons to properly position the partition upon the job site has necessarily increased overall labor costs for the resultant structure.
In the prior art, it has been shown that it is possible to construct a leveling device which may be temporarily attached to a wall, thereby freeing the user's hands. Such an attempted solution is taught by, for example, in Armour (U.S. Pat. No. 2,857,678) and Cusick (U.S. Pat. No. 1,308,699). These attempted solutions however were designed for use by brick masons on a wall already partially constructed to only assist in the alignment of subsequent bricks being laid and is thus, completely inapplicable to the plumbing of wooden partition walls which are yet unsecured. Also, these prior art devices usually require the fabrication of a complete unit including a level and a securing device, making the unit expensive to fabricate and generally requiring that the device be manually clamped and unclamped on the wall for each use.
Another attempted solution to the problem has been suggested by Manville (U.S. Pat. No. 3,311,988) in which a device is disclosed including a specially fabricated level and a straight edge combination and a clamp by which the level and straight edge may be attached to a structural member of a wall partition. Unfortunately, this Manville device does not provide for the use of a standard carpenter's level which may be easily removed, requires special fabrication of both the level and a straight edge in addition to the clamp itself, employs a clamping device which will not accomodate the width of a conventional 2.times.4 timber and requires clamping and unclamping with each use. Further, this device is not designed for inexpensive fabrication or for ease of use. A similar device as taught by Redding (U.S. Pat. No. 3,230,632) also requires a special level to be used and is not designed to be inexpensively fabricated. Also, when the Redding device is used for plumbing a wall partition, it must be placed on the construction member facing toward the user and at eye level which would apparently interfere with the positioning and nailing of the stabilizing member.
Thus, in summary, the prior art devices disclosed for the attempted solution of a single person being able to position and plumb a wall partition generally require special fabrication of a level and holder combination, clamping and unclamping with each use, and are not designed to be inexpensively manufactured.